Dubai’s Michelin starred Avatara, an Indian vegetarian restaurant launches in Mumbai

Avatara, Mumbai's Michelin-star vegetarian restaurant, reimagines local vegetables in creative ways, offering a unique dining experience.

There is no paneer on this vegetarian menu. Mumbai’s recently opened Avatara won a Michelin award in Dubai last year for a good reason. Now the world’s first and only vegetarian, Indian and one-Michelin-star restaurant, it finds imaginative ways to use local vegetables that people dislike, overlook or take for granted.

Bitter gourd, for instance, is reimagined in a tikki form with ghee-roast masala. It is paired with a creamy gelato made of mango sambar, served with dosa crisps for a crunch. The humble turnip is presented as a galouti kebab with a creamy curry made from rajma and turnip — a dish which takes inspiration from Kashmir — along with katlam, a flaky, Kashmiri bread.

Avatara comes from the house of Passion F&B, which includes Dubai-based establishments such as Tresind Studio, Carnival by Tresind, Tresind, Bistro Aamara and A Capella among others. Chef Himanshu Saini and Chef Rahul Rana along with head chef, Mumbai, Sanket Joshi, are eager to bring the unique experience to Indian customers. After all, the restaurant’s 14-course vegetarian degustation menu does not feature any of the regular suspects, including paneer and mushroom. To take it a step further, there is no onion or garlic either.

Intrigued how that is going to pan out? So are we. 

The two-week-old restaurant awash in white, blue and sea-green, is on the seventh floor of a building in Santa Cruz and while there is no view of the city, there is plenty to admire on your plate.

Our meal begins with a cold beverage — pineapple rasam with curry leaves. The first course, aptly titled Naivedhya, is inspired by the holy offering to the Gods and comes encased in a plate with peacock-themed design. Homemade butter, popping sugar and a bon-bon filled with panchamrit (honey, vanilla, almond milk, rose water and orange zest) acts as an amuse-bouche.

The Alpahara (which means snacks in Sanskrit) is designed by Avatara Dubai’s Chef Omkar Walve, who won the coveted Michelin Young Chef’s award last year. “I tasked Omkar, who hails from Maharashtra, to showcase a dish inspired by his region and he came up with Alpahara,” Rahul tells us. Crisp air-fried okra is stuffed with chilli thecha and alu wadi. Alu wadi transforms into a mini taco packed with taro leaves and roots. Sol kadi, served on the side, is poured over a green apple shaped like a rose and soaked in kokam.